LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY drgndancer)

As many of you know, while I was in iraq I was serving as a Pagan DFGL (Distinctive Faith Group Leader). This is a military term for someone who has some of the rights and privileges of being a chaplain in that s/he can lead a religious service on post, request materials for their faith group through chaplain channels, and generally give basic support to people within their faith group. There are lots of Pagan DFGLs in the military and lots of Pagan DFGs (Distinctive Faith Groups) to go along with them, and this is good. It important to realize however that theses people are NOT chaplains. They are individuals who chose to spend some of their own time making arrangements and serving the group. A chaplain is a full time person who is paid specifically to look after the spiritual and mental health of their faith group in particular and their command in general. They have a number of powers and abilities that DFGLs don't, not the least of which is the ability to sponsor their own faith group. A DFGL needs a chaplain sponsor.

OK, so this is kind of complicated. Both DFGLs and chaplains need religious bodies as sponsors, and theoretically any religious institution can sponsor either type of person. The qualifications are very different, but the sponsorship part is the same. In practice it's a bit more complicated to get the ability to sponsor people setup up than it sounds like it should be; but at least two pagan groups have run the gauntlet and can (in theory) sponsor both chaplains and DFGLs. One of those groups is Sacred Well, a Wiccan organization out of Texas.

Religiously I consider Sacred Well a bit flakey, they're a bit fonder of JRR Tolkien than I think is healthy for one thing; but they've fought hard and won a great number of battles for the pagan community as a whole. Especially when it comes to the military. They were (and still are) the sponsors of the Fort Hood Open Circle that so upset Bob Barr in the last decade (it was the first Pagan DFG in the military for those unfamiliar with the story), they were (and still are) the sponsors of all of the DFGs in Iraq right now, and now they are trying to be the sponsor of the first Wiccan Chaplain the military.

In order to be a Chaplain, one must have the sponsorship of a recognized religious group, a masters degree in an appropriate field, and meet all of the other qualifications to be an officer in the branch of service you wish to join. For a person who is not already a chaplain the process of becoming one is painful, and involves a number of esoteric steps where the candidate can be stalled indefinitely by a sufficiently motivated board member. Sacred Well has been trying to navigate this process for years, but recently an alternative came up. An already active chaplain approached them about changing his sponsorship. This process is much less painful and is basically a paperwork shuffle. Normally in this process the Chaplain's original sponsoring body is presented the information after the transfer is complete. They are simply administratively notified that they no longer sponsor Chaplain X.

This time was different. As soon as the agreement between Sacred Well and their new chaplain candidate was reached and the board that controls these things notified to begin the process of changing sponsorship, the candidate's original sponsor was notified with all the details of what was going on. Within hours they had pulled their sponsorship. Because of the speed with which the sponsorship was pulled and relative slowness with which it was being transfered, this left the candidate without a sponsor and thus no longer a Chaplain. Of course this means that he can't just transfer sponsors now, he has to go back through the process, thus eliminating any advantage he has.

Sacred Well's website has a petition on it in support of this chaplain candidate, and more details on the story. While I don't think the petition has any legal weight, it still seems like a good gesture of support to e-sign it. I feel comfortable with saying that Sacred Well will not abuse the small amount of information they require as part of the signature. They have always been discreet and proper with me, and everyone else I know who has dealt with them.